Shiite Islam

SHI’ITE ISLAM Allamah Sayyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai Translated and Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr State University of New York Press, 1975 ISBN-10: 0-87395-390-8 Contents Preface 0.1 The Study of Shi’ism . . . . . . . . 0.2 Fundamental Elements of Shi’ism 0.3 Present State of Shi’ite Studies . . 0.4 The Present Book . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 The Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 11 17 18 21 25 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Meaning of Religion (din)2 Islam, and Shi’ism . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 29 31 I THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SHI’ISM 33 2 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF SHI’ISM 2.1 The Cause of the Separation of the Shi’ite Minority from the Sunni Majority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Two Problems of Succession and Authority in Religious Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Political Method of the Selection of the Caliph by Vote and Its Disagreement with the Shi’ite View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 The Termination of the Caliphate of ’Ali Amir al-mu’minin41 and His Method of Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 The Benefit which the Shi’ah Derived from the Caliphate of Ali 2.6 The Transfer of the Caliphate to Mu’awiyah and Its Transformation into a Hereditary Monarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 The Bleakest Days of Shi’ism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 37 38 43 46 47 49 CONTENTS 2 2.8 The Establishment of Umayyad Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 Shi’ism During the 2nd/8th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10 Shi’ism in the 3rd/9th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.11 Shi’ism in the 4th/10th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.12 Shi’ism from the 5th/11th to the 9th/15th Centuries . 2.13 Shi’ism in the 10th/16th and 11th/17th Centuries . . . 2.14 Shi’ism from the 12th/18th to the 14th/20th Centuries Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 II 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 52 54 54 55 56 57 57 DIVISIONS WITHIN SHI’ISM 3.1 Zaydism and Its Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Isma’ilism and Its Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 The Batinis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 The Nizaris, Musta’lis, Druzes and Muqanna’ah . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Differences Between Twelve-Imam Shi’ism and Isma’ilism and Zaydism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 Summary of the History of Twelve-Imam Shi’ism . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 69 70 72 73 SHI’ITE RELIGIOUS THOUGHT THREE METHODS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT FIRST METHOD: THE FORMAL ASPECT OF RELIGION . . . . 4.1 The Different Facets of the Formal Aspect of Religion . . . . . . 4.2 Traditions of the Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 The Book and Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 The Outwa